Metalworking



April 1953 R. M. SCHUMACHER METALWORKING Filed Aug. 28, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR.

April 21, 1953 R. M. SCHUMACHER 2,635,493

METALWORKING Filed Aug. 28, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 III I 'llllllllllliINVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE METALWORKING RichardM. Schumacher, Chicago, Ill.

Application August 28, 1948, Serial No. 46,669 2 Claims. (Cl. s40) Myinvention relates to metal working and includes among its objects andadvantages a simplified procedure for producing narrow strips of sheetmetal from wide strips, with the edges of the narrow strips rounded.

' In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a partially diagrammatic plan view of equipment according tothe invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section;

Figure 3 is a detail view as in section on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail section on line 44 of Figure 1; and Figure 5 is adetail of a modified lower supporting means.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration, theequipment includes a conventional support If! for the take-off roll 12from which the parent strip I4 is unwound. Ordinarily, the roll I2 canbe permitted to unwind without restraint, but if the reach between theroll and the table l6 happens to tend to kink, a slight drag may beapplied to the roll, as by eX- tending the shaft l8 through anadditional bearing and applying a conventional friction brake indicatedat 22.

On the table 16 the parent strip is carried under conventional slittingmeans indicated as a shaft 24 and a series of cutters 26, whichsubdivide the strip into a plurality of much narrower scion strips,which may be of the same or different widths. I have indicated in thedrawing six strips all of the same width. Ofter passing the cutter, thesix scion strips will lie in the same plane with their edgessubstantially in contact, but the cut edges will be rough and burred,and it is necessary to .round these edges to render the product fit forfurther use.

After passing the cutter, the scion strips pass between the pair ofrolls 3!] and leave the table Hi to pass through edge-finishing means,indicated as mounted on a separate table 32. To finish the strips, it isnecessary to pass each strip between a pair of grooved rolls. thegrooves of which have rounded bottoms adapted to round and smooth theedges of the strip; but with the strips all in the same plane, the edgesto be rounded are inaccessible. Identifying the individual strips forconvenience by the reference characters 34, 36, 33, 46, 42 and 44, Iguide the strips 34 and 46 across the table 32 at one predeterminedlevel. The strips 36 and 42 are guided at a higher level to leavesuflicient clearance for edging rolls to operate on the strips 34 and40.

The strips 38 and 44 are guided at a still higher level and leavesufficient clearance for edging rolls to operate on the strips 36 and42. In the embodiment illustrated, this brings the strip 38 high enoughabove the strip 40 so that there is room below it for the roll 46operating on the adjacent edge of the strip 36, and room below that foranother roll 48 operating on the adjacent edge of the strip 40.

As clearly indicated in Figure 3, this brings the rolls 46 and 48 moreor less superposed when viewed in elevation longitudinally, but bysetting the rolls for the strips 36 and 42 longitudinally offset fromthose for the strips 34 and 40, by a distance at least equal to thediameter of one roll, it is possible to have the necessary clearancesfor the supporting means for all the rolls, and clear passageways forall the strips. For instance, the rolls for the strips 34 and 40 areeach mounted on individual blocks 50 (see Figure 4), each slidabletransversely in guides 52, forming part of the table 32, and locked inadjusted position, as by set screws 54. The rolls for the strips 38 and44 are all supported from the transverse shaft 56, by means of brackets58, having hubs slidable on the shaft. The rolls for the edges of strips36 and 42 adjacent the lower strips 34 and 40 ar supported from above byidentical brackets 58 slidable on the transverse shaft 62. The edges ofthe strips 36 and 42 adjacent the higher strips 38 and 44 are engaged byrolls on supports 64 identical with the supports 50, except that theyproject upwardly to the proper level.

Beyond the table 32 the strips are guided back into a common plane, bymeans of an idler roller 66, the ends of which are vertically slidablein slots 68 in the end standards 10. Beyond the roller 66 thereassembled finished scion strips are wound up into a unitary package12, which constitutes six juxtaposed rolls, each roll constituting theentirety of one Scion strip.

I prefer to apply most of the power for drawing the material through theequipment, at the receiving roll 12, as indicated by the sprocket 14 onthe end of the shaft 16. In operating such a unit, an overload slipclutch in the shaft 16 at 18 is a convenient and useful precaution.Normally it is best to supply enough driving power to the cutters 26, asby means of the sprocket 80, to fully carry the cutting load. Inhandling a wide variety of thicknesses and qualities of metal, it willbe obvious that sometimes greater smoothness and uniformity of movementcan be secured by delivering power to the rolls 30 also, by means of thesprocket 82 and the relatively light slip clutch 84. To secure correctdimensions for all the finished strips, I follow the usual practice oftrimming each edge of the parent strip and winding th trimmings up onthe waste roller, indicated at 86, Figure 2.

Others may readily adapt the invention for use under various conditionsof service, by employing one or more of the novel features disclosed, orequivalents thereof. For instance, where the strips are very narrow, itmay be necessary to have four or five strips arranged in echelon in eachcascade, as distinguished from two cascades of only three strips each.And

under most conditions of installation, the slightangularity of thestrips 38 and 44 where they enter the edging rolls will not be enough tointerfere with the edging. But in the specific construction shown, allthe sets of rollers supported from. the shaft 56 can be adjusted byrotation around the shaft 56 to align the grooves exactly with theincoming strip. And to make a similar adjustment available for thestrips 36 and 42, it is only necessary to replace a set of guides 52with a transverse shaft 88, so that all the edging rolls, whethersupported from above or below, can be similarly tilted into perfectalignment with the incoming strip.

As at present advised with respect to the apparent scope of myinvention, I desire to claim the following subject matter:

1. Equipment for forming smooth-edged scion strips from a plurality ofrough-edged longitudinally moving scion strips coming toward theequipment juxtaposed and in a common plane, comprising, in combination:a pair of edging rolls for each scion strip; said rolls being positionedto receive and deform the edges of the strips, while guiding the stripsin longitudinal movement; said pairs of rolls being offset bothvertically and horizontally with respect to each other in a plurality ofecheloned closely overlapping cascades; the cascades being offsethorizontally but aligned vertically with corresponding pairs of rolls ofeach cascade in the same horizontal plane, a top frame support meansabove and a bottom frame support means below the cascades, roll supportsextending down from the top frame support means for supporting each rollof the top pairs of rolls of said cascades, roll supports extending upfrom the bottom frame support means for supporting each roll of thebottom pairs of rolls of said cascades, roll supports extending downfrom the top frame support means for supporting one roll of each pair ofintermediate rolls of said cascades and roll supports extending up fromsaid bottom frame support means for supporting the other rolls of saidintermediate pairs.

2. Equipment for forming smooth-edged scion strips from a plurality ofrough-edged longitudinally moving scion strips coming toward theequipment juxtaposed and in a common plane, comprising, in combination:a pair of edging rolls for each scion strip; said rolls being positionedto receive and deform the edges of the strips. while guiding the stripsin longitudinal movement; said pairs of rolls being offset bothvertically and horizontally with respect to each other in a plurality ofecheloned closely overlapping cascades; the cascades being offsethorizontally but aligned vertically with corresponding pairs of rolls ofeach cascade in the same horizontal plane, a top frame support meansabove and a bottom frame support means below the cascades, roll supportsextending down from the top frame support means for supporting each rollof the top pairs of rolls of said cascades except the outermost roll ofthe first pair, roll supports extending up from the bottom frame supportmeans for supporting each roll of the bottom pairs of rolls of saidcascades except for the outermost roll of the last pair, roll supportsextending down from the top frame support means for supporting one rollof each pair of intermediate rolls of said cascades and roll supportsextending up from said bottom frame support means for supporting theother rolls of said intermediate pairs, said outermost rolls beingsupported on either of said roll supports.

RICHARD M. SCHUMACHER,

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,335,334 Yoder Nov. 30, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 602,172 Germany Aug. 16, 1943

